Apparatus for wrapping bottle necks

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for wrapping bottle necks, preferably with foil wrappers. The apparatus includes wrapper applying mechanism and following treatment apparatus to shape and conform the wrapper to the bottle neck and crown. The treatment apparatus includes a series of pressing and smoothing tools which are arranged on a serpentine path and conveyor means for advancing the bottles on said serpentine path past said tools. The wrapper shaping and conforming tools are desirably arranged on circular arcs and the conveyor desirably comprises star wheels which convey the bottles on said arcs for engagement with said shaping and conforming tools.

United States Patent 1191 Dullinger 1 1 APPARATUS FOR WRAPPING BOTTLENECKS [75] Inventor: Karl Dullinger, Neutraubling,

Germany [73] Assignee: Hermann Kronseder, Neutraubling,

Germany [22] Filed: Oct. 27, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 192,955

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Nov. 13, 1970 Germany 2055834 [52US. Cl 156/487, 156/477, 156/481,

, 53/128 [51] Int. Cl....... B651) 61/24, B651: 3/18 [58] Field ofSearch 53/128, 137; 156/477, 481, 487, 488

[-56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,567,551 3/1971 Dullinger156/391 1111 3,784,438 1451 Jan.8, 1974 3,116,193 12/1963 Ehlcnhcck..156/487 Primary Examiner-Travis S. McGehee Assistant Examiner-J0hnSipos Attorney-Joseph P. House, Jr.

57 ABSTRACT Apparatus for wrapping bottle necks, preferably with foilwrappers. The apparatus includes wrapper applying mechanism andfollowing treatment apparatus to shape and conform the wrapper to thebottle neck and crown. The treatment apparatus includes a series ofpressing and smoothing tools which are arranged on a serpentine path andconveyor means for advancing the bottles on said serpentine path pastsaid tools. The wrapper shaping and conforming; tools are desirablyarranged on circular arcs and the conveyor desirably comprises starwheels which convey the bottles on said arcs for engagement with saidshaping and conforming tools.

11 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 1 PMENTEDJM 8|974 3,784,438

SHEET 10F 2 PATENTEU JAN 8 I974 SHEET 2 BF 2 1 APPARATUS FOR WRAPPINGBOTTLE NECKS CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS Cross reference ismade to my U. S. Pat. No. 3,567,551 granted Mar. 2, 1971, on my UnitedStates application Ser. No. 836,285 filed June 25, 1969, the same beingcopending with my German application Ser. No. P 55 834.3 filed Nov. 13,1970, the priority of which is herein claimed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An important objectof the present invention is to simplify, consolidate, compact and reducethe cost of apparatus for shaping and conforming wrappers to the necksof bottles. In particular, it is an object of the invention to reducethe length and space occupied by the wrapper treatment apparatus. Thisobjective is achieved in the apparatus of the present invention bydisposing the treatment apparatus on a serpentine path whichconsolidates the pressing and smoothing apparatus. in a compact,space-saving arrangement. Accordingly, the space occupied by theapparatus and its distance from the machine frame is greatly reduced,although the length of the treatment path is not actually diminished.

In preferred embodiments, the treatment path com.- prises a series ofcircular arcs or arcuate sections, one of which followsthe other inseries.

Moreover, in lieu of the use of chain conveyors, as shown in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,567,551, the conveyor mechanism of the present inventiondesirably is greatly simplified by using successive star wheels whichare arranged in. series and which are synchronously driven. The bottlesare rotated on their own axes by disposing rails with yieldable bottleengaging surfaces along the serpentine path. The starwheels are providedwith bottle receiving pockets with anti-friction bottle supports, thusto cause the bottles to twirl on their own axes as the star wheels urgethe bottles against and along the padded rails.

Each star wheel is further provided with tool apparatus to shape andconform the wrappers against the bottle neck and crown as the bottlesare conveyed along the arcuate path and while the bottles are twirling.One such shaping tool comprises a disk-like pressing-on rotor, theperiphery of which is padded to be yieldable. The disk rotates on anaxis substantially at the center of the arc of the'curved rail. Therotation of the bottles which are in contact with the padded rotor willcause the disk to rotate also and hence press the wrappers snuglyagainst the bottle necks and smooth the wrappers into folds thereabout.The padded rotor can also be arranged slightly offset or eccentricallyto the center of the circular are for varying pressure effects upon thewrapper.

Another of the shaping tools desirably comprises an iron which pressesthe wrapper down on the top of the bottle and which has a groove whichembraces the bottle crown, thus to shape, fold and smooth the wrapperover the top of the crown cap or stopper.

This shaping tool may be followed by a rotor brush in the next archwhich further smooths and shapes the wrapper to the bottle.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will appear fromthe'followirig disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of apparatusembodying the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary cross section taken along the line A-B of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of smoothing rail or iron, in associationwitha brush, all curved on the serpentine path along which the bottlesare conveyed.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating a modified embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of FIG. 1, butillustrating an eccentrically mounted padded rotor.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Although the disclosure hereofis detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice theinven tion, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplifythe invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. Thescope of the invention is defined in the claims appended hereto.

The machine 1 has a housing '2.within which drive and control units arecontained. The bottles 43 are fed to the machine on a conveyor platechain 3. On entering the star wheel 5, the bottles are spaced by theinfeed worm 4. Star wheel Sconveys the bottles onto the rotating bottletable 6. Apparatus 7 feeds discrete wrappers 44 from a magazine 45 forapplication to the bottle necks. Wrappers 44 typically comprise a gluedmetal foil wrapper, as shown in my U. S. Pat. No. 3,567,551, aforesaid.

The wrappers 44 are initially applied to the bottle necks as describedin my prior patent aforesaid with the aidof a series of stationarycurved brushes 8, sponge rollers 9 and the like. However, the metal foilwrappers 44 cannot be applied completely to the bottle necks andcrownsby the apparatus associated with the table 6. Further treatment isrequired outside of the bottle table. This treatment occurs at thetreatment station 10 where the foil wrapper 44 is shaped and tightlypressed and smoothed onto the bottle neck and crown.

Treatmentstation 10 provides a compact serpentine path about three setsof staggered bottle advancing or conveying star wheels 11, 12, 13 whichare connected in series and driven in synchronism by conventionalapparatus not shown. The respective star wheels ll, 12, 13 comprisepaired upper and lower disks having peripheral pockets 14 in which bodyportions of the bottles 43 are received. Each pocket 14 is desirablyprovidedwith rollers 15 which provide an anti-friction bearing in whichthe respective bottles may twirl or rotate on their own axes withminimum frictional resistance. The rollers 15 could be replaced by otherantifriction apparatus, or the star wheel disks could be made of a lowfriction substance.

About each star wheel 11, 12, 13 is disposed a stationary guide which iscurved arcuately about star wheel concentrically with the axis ofrotation of the respective shafts 20, 21, 22 of the star wheels 11, 13,12. The guides are formed of plates 16, 17 provided with an edge padding18 of resilient yieldable material and against which the star wheelpresses the bottles to produce sufficient friction between the bottleand pad to cause the bottle to twirl or rotate about its own axis as thestar wheels turn.

The first star wheel 11 has eight pockets l4 and receives the bottles 43from the conveying table 6 and transfers the bottles to the intermediatestar wheel 12, which has six pockets 14. Star wheel 12 transfers thebottles to a third star wheel 13 which is provided with eight pocketsfrom whence the bottles are finally conveyed to the plate conveyor 3.

Accordingly, the bottles 43 stand upright either on the chain plateconveyor 3 or on a stationary apron 19 over which the respective starwheels advance the bottles from one wheel to the next.

The star wheel shafts 20, 21, 22 are driven by gear or chain andsprocket drive mechanism within the housing 2, the movement of one starwheel being synchronized with the next.

The brushes 8 and rollers 9 on the table 6 pro-shape the wrappers 44quite closely to the bottle necks, but the wrappers are not completelyshaped and are not smoothed and pressed well enough to the neck andcrown of the bottle. A series of shaping and conforming tools areassociated with each of the star wheels 1 1, 12, 13. The first starwheel 11 is provided with a sponge rubber rotor pad 25 which is mountedon a wheel 24 having a hub which may rotate on the upper end of theshaft 20 for star wheel'll. The pad 25 is desirably shaped with a slopedshoulder 25" which overlies the crown of the bottle, as shown in FIG. 2.Rotor 24 is freely rotatable on shaft 20. Accordingly, as the bottlestwirl on their own axes and have their necks pressed against the rotorpad 25, the pad-25 will rotate on its own axis so that there issubstantial pressing and smoothing contact between the pad 25 and thewrapper 44. Accordingly, the foil wrapper is tightly pressed against thebottle neck and crown to closely shape and conform the wrapper 44 to thebottle neck and crown and also adhere the glue on the inside of thewrapper tightly against the bottle.

The next star wheel 12 is provided with a series of arcuately extendingsmoothing rails or irons 26 which have arcuately shaped grooves orarched pockets 27 on their undersides. Pockets 27 have relatively deepentrance portions and run out near the ends of the rails. A rib 28formed on the outer periphery of the rails 26 guides the bottle withrespect to the rail. Rails 26 function similar to the rails or irons ofmy prior patent aforesaid, but are arcuately shaped to align on theserpentine path aforesaid. Upwardly projecting portions of the foilwarpper are pressed intimately against the crown cap or stopper of thebottle by the weight of the rails 26 which are suspended on the rods32having weighted heads 34. The rods are vertically movable with respectto the support 33 which is fixed above the star wheel 12. Accordingly,the rails 26 are continually raised and lowered under gravity bias asthe rotatin bottles pass therebeneath.

Support 33 also desirably supports a pad roller 35 which presses thewrapper down on the crown of the bottles, beyond the last of thesmoothing rails 26. Roller 35 could also be replaced by a smoothing rail26 with a flat undersurface which does not have the groove 27.

The last star wheel 13 is provided with a brush rotor tool 36 which isarranged either concentrically or eccentrically with respect to shaft22. Brush 36 is mounted on a shaft 37 which has a motor 38 which drivesthe brush 36 at a speed different from the speed of the bottles,whereupon the brush 36 will further smooth and press the wrappersagainst the bottle necks and crowns.

The stationary guides 16, 17 can be replaced with endless belts withpadded surfaces which may also be driven to give the bottles additionalgyrations.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment in which the treatment path, while stillserpentine, is somewhat shorter from that shown in FIG. 1. In thisembodiment only two star wheels 39, 40 follow the bottle table 6 oflabeling machine 1'. The bottles can be discharged from the machineeither in the same direction as they are fed thereto, along the path ofarrow 42, or they can be discharged at right angles to the infeed path,along the path of arrow 41. This arrangement is particularlyadvantageous in the event that the foil wrapper has been folded tightlyagainst the neck of the bottle within the machine, so that treatmentafforded by the pad rotor 25 can be omitted.

FIG. 5 shows another embodiment in which the rotor pad 25 of wheel 24 isdisposed offset from the axis of shaft 20 of the star wheel 11, thus tovary the pressure of the pad 25' against the wrapper as the bottlestraverse the path defined by the arcuate rail pad 18.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for wrapping bottle necks, which apparatus includeswrapper applying apparatus for applying the wrapper to the bottle neckand following treatment apparatus to shape the wrapper against thebottle neck, the improvement in which said treatment apparatus comprisesa series of pressing and smoothing tools arranged on a serpentine pathand conveyor means for advancing the bottles on said serpentine pathpast said tools, said serpentine path comprising a plurality of circulararcs along which said tools are disposed, said conveyor means comprisinga plurality of star wheels arranged in series, said star wheels havingtheir axes of rotation substantially at the centers of said circulararcs.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said arcs comprise yieldablefriction surfaces against which the star wheels press the bottles tocause the bottles to turn as they are advanced by the star wheels.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 in which said treatment apparatus furthercomprises for one of said star wheels a disk-like, pressing-on rotorhaving a yieldable periphery, means supporting said rotor for rotationwithin one of the circular arcs, the periphery of said rotor contactingthe bottle necks, said rotor being rotated on its axis by rotation ofthe bottles as they are turned on their own axes.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 in which the means supporting the rotor hasan axis of rotation eccentric to the center of said circular arc.

5. The apparatus according to claim 3 in which said rotor has aperiphery which overhangs the crown of the bottle.

6. ln apparatus for wrapping bottle necks, which apparatus includeswrapper applying apparatus for applying the wrapper to the bottle neckand following treatment apparatus to shape the wrapper against thebottle neck, the improvement in which said treatment apparatus comprisesa series of pressing and smoothing tools arranged on a serpentine pathand conveyor means for advancing the bottles on said serpentine pathpast said tools, one of said tools comprising a rotary brush theperiphery of which engages the bottle neck, and support means for thebrush on which it is arranged concentrically to a circular arc in saidserpentine path.

7. Apparatus for pressing a foil wrapper against a bottle neck andcomprising a star wheel, an arcuate rail about the periphery of the starwheel, said rail having a yieldable surface against which the star wheelpresses bottles conveyed thereby, whereupon to twirl the bottles ontheir own axes, a pressing rotor having a turning axis within the arc ofsaid rail and having a peripheral resilient surface disposed forengagement by the necks of said bottles, whereby said rotor presses thewrapper against the bottle necks as the bottles twirl and also turn therotor on its axis.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the. axis of rotation of thepressing rotoris concentric to the axis of rotation of the star wheel.

a 9. The apparatus of claim 7 in which the axis of rotation of thepressing rotor is eccentric to the axis of rotation of the star wheel.

10. In apparatus for wrapping bottle necks, which apparatus includeswrapper applying apparatus for applying the wrapper to the bottle neckand following treatment apparatus to shape the wrapper against thebottle neck, the improvement in which said treatment apparatus comprisesa star wheel, a yieldable friction surface disposed in an are about thestar wheel wherebythe star wheel advances the bottle along said are andpresses the bottle against said yieldable friction surface to cause thebottles to turn about their own axes as they are advanced by the starwheel, and pressing and smoothing apparatus disposed on an are adjacentthe bottle neck to press the wrapper against the bottle necks as thebottles turn on their own axes and advance along said arc.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 in combination with a pressing rotorwithin said are and on which said pressing and smoothing apparatus ismounted for pressing the wrapper against the bottle necks as the bottlesturn on their own axes.

1. In apparatus for wrapping bottle necks, which apparatus includeswrapper applying apparatus for applying the wrapper to the bottle neckand following treatment apparatus to shape the wrapper against thebottle neck, the improvement in which said treatment apparatus comprisesa series of pressing and smoothing tools arranged on a serpentine pathand conveyor means for advancing the bottles on said serpentine pathpast said tools, said serpentine path comprising a plurality of circulararcs along which said tools are disposed, said conveyor means comprisinga plurality of star wheels arranged in series, said star wheels havingtheir axes of rotation substantially at the centers of said circulararcs.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said arcs comprise yieldablefriction surfaces against which the star wheels press the bottles tocause the bottles to turn as they are advanced by the star wheels. 3.The apparatus of claim 2 in which said treatment apparatus furthercomprises for one of said star wheels a disk-like, pressing-on rotorhaving a yieldable periphery, means supporting said rotor for rotationwithin one of the circular arcs, the periphery of said rotor contactingthe bottle necks, said rotor being rotated on its axis by rotation ofthe bottles as they are turned on their own axes.
 4. The apparatus ofclaim 3 in which the means supporting the rotor has an axis of rotationeccentric to the center of said circular arc.
 5. The apparatus accordingto claim 3 in which said rotor has a periphery which overhangs the crownof the bottle.
 6. In apparatus for wrapping bottle necks, whichapparatus includes wrapper applying apparatus for applying the wrapperto the bottle neck and following treatment apparatus to shape thewrapper against the bottle neck, the improvement in which said treatmentapparatus comprises a series of pressing and smoothing tools arranged ona serpentine path and conveyor means for advancing the bottles on saidserpentine path past said tools, one of said tools comprising a rotarybrush the periphery of which engages the bottle neck, and support meansfor the brush on which it is arranged concentrically to a circular arcin said serpentine path.
 7. Apparatus for pressing a foil wrapperagainst a bottle neck and comprising a star wheel, an arcuate rail aboutthe periphery of the star wheel, said rail having a yieldable surfaceagainst which the star wheel presses bottles conveyed thereby, whereuponto twirl the bottles on their own axes, a pressing rotor having aturning axis within the arc of said rail and having a peripheralresilient surface disposed for engagement by the necks of said bottles,whereby said rotor presses the wrapper against the bottle necks as thebottles twirl and also turn the rotor on its axis.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 7 in which the axis of rotation of the pressing rotor isconcentric to the axis of rotation of the star wheel.
 9. The apparatusof claim 7 in which the axis of rotation of the pressing rotor iseccentric to the axis of rotation of the star wheel.
 10. In apparatusfor wrapping bottle necks, which apparatus includes wrapper applyingapparatus for applying the wrapper to the bottle neck and followingtreatment apparatus to shape the wrapper against the bottle neck, tHeimprovement in which said treatment apparatus comprises a star wheel, ayieldable friction surface disposed in an arc about the star wheelwhereby the star wheel advances the bottle along said arc and pressesthe bottle against said yieldable friction surface to cause the bottlesto turn about their own axes as they are advanced by the star wheel, andpressing and smoothing apparatus disposed on an arc adjacent the bottleneck to press the wrapper against the bottle necks as the bottles turnon their own axes and advance along said arc.
 11. The apparatus of claim10 in combination with a pressing rotor within said arc and on whichsaid pressing and smoothing apparatus is mounted for pressing thewrapper against the bottle necks as the bottles turn on their own axes.